


what do you think you are, mature?

by cheshireanwriter



Series: alternate universes. [2]
Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Fluff, a drop of saida
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-27 18:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21396622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshireanwriter/pseuds/cheshireanwriter
Summary: Mina isn't good with words, especially not in front of pretty girls with coffee on their tongue.
Relationships: Hirai Momo/Myoui Mina
Series: alternate universes. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1529135
Comments: 2
Kudos: 121





	what do you think you are, mature?

There’s this girl that comes into her work everyday. 

It’s not strange to have regulars, not when she works at a coffee shop at the corner of one of the busiest streets in Seoul. It’s a nice place with a pleasant ambiance and equally as pleasant customers, and it’s by far the best place she’s ever worked at. 

The girl’s name is Momo (she knows this because that’s what’s written on the cup she tops off every morning) and she orders a cup of pure black coffee every single time—no cream, no sugar—without fail. 

It shouldn’t be her concern, really, but it’s the face the girl makes at her first sip every single morning that draws her attention. It’s one of disgust and utter regret, but she goes on to gulp it down before leaving anyway.

It’s on a particular day when she has to take over a shift for her coworker at an ungodly time of morning that it happens. She blames it on the fact that the clock only just hit five and she’s already been in the shop for an hour and a half. 

She’s never been much of a morning person, and her filter is never properly in place at this time of day, and it just so happens that the girl unexpectedly walks in looking wide awake when it finally slips through her own half-awake lips.

“What do you think you are, mature?”

“…What?”

Mina knows she’s screwed up big time, though Momo doesn’t sound angry or the least bit offended, just adorably confused. She gives off the air of someone who requires constant coddling, someone who needs to be protected and taken care of. 

She has to have a boyfriend. There’s no possibility that she doesn’t. She’s exactly the type of girl guys would throw themselves at, especially in the oversized sweater and red scarf she’s donning that makes her look softer than she normally does. As if she needed to look any softer.

“I, uhm, I didn’t mean to say that. You—You just never seem to enjoy that—the coffee, I mean, and it sort of just—”

The girl laughs, and wow, how is it even possible to look that good at five in the morning, and shakes her head. “It’s okay. You’re right. I don’t really like coffee,” she says, expression turning sheepish at the confession.

Mina’s glad the coffee shop isn’t too populated because there’s no one else to be witness of the blush spreading like wildfire across her cheeks.

“Then why…”

“I have trouble staying awake in class. I get in trouble for falling asleep a lot,” she says, looking at Mina with a sheepish look on her face, “and my professor looks sad whenever she catches me, so I’d rather drink coffee!”

Mina’s struck dumb for a few seconds because who in this filthy world has such a pure response like that? But then the sound of an incoming customer snaps her out of her stupor and she’s sent rattling out a poorly stitched together sentence like a complete idiot.

“You know there are energy drinks for that?”

Momo cocks her head to the side with one of the softest smiles Mina has ever set eyes on, and she finds herself breathless at the sight.

“Yeah, but there’s something here that I can’t get at a convenience store.”

The words are said in a meaningful sort of way that Mina’s either too dumb or too shallow to really decipher right now, and then Momo’s fingers are brushing just past hers before she’s walking off to her usual seat next to the wall length window.

Her hands are as soft as she’s expected them to be.

~

Mina begins to notice a particular look in Momo’s eyes. The look is indecipherable as of now, written in a language that she has yet to discover, but it makes her feel things and that just makes it all the more difficult.

But then, a few weeks in, Momo seems to lose patience and Mina’s suddenly standing dumbly in front of her with the cafe’s key precariously dangling in her numb fingers (she hadn’t been able to make it in the morning because Mina had just flown in from London and she had taken the night shift instead), desperately grasping for an understanding of the words that just slipped out between pretty lips.

“Will you go out with me?”

Momo looks bashful, and Mina can see her hands trembling (though it could be because it was colder than it should be in November). And  _ oh, I should say something, shouldn’t I? _

But she doesn’t, and she’s not sure what brings her to do it, but suddenly she’s grabbing a hold of the girl’s shaking hand and yanking her in for a kiss. She’s always believed in actions over words, anyway. 

Momo’s an odd combination of soft and hard, because Mina can feel the sharp edges of her hip bones and the lean muscle beneath her clothes, but she’s also so pliant, she practically molds into Mina’s body. It’s electrifying.

“So, when you said you were going to ‘lock up’ I guess you meant it in the metaphorical sense.”

Mina gasps and tears herself off of Momo like she’s a bucket of water she’d dunked her head in for too long. It’s the cafe’s owner, Park Jihyo, a small, gentle woman with a dark side to her that could freeze hell twice over.

“Oh, hey, Hyo!”

The glare that had been aimed straight for Mina abruptly disappears and turns into something softer, like marshmallows. She should have known that Momo would have the power to turn anyone and anything soft if she stares at it long enough.

“Momo. Was my employee,” a glare, “bothering you?”

“No, no, it’s not like that, Hyo. I, um, I asked her out.”

Mina feels like she’s just been dunked into the arctic ocean with the withering glare that erupts like Superman’s lasers from Jihyo’s eyes. The tiny woman takes a dangerous step towards her and Mina stumbles back a few paces with her hands outstretched as a sign of submission.

“Wait, I can—I can explain.”

Jihyo doesn’t step any closer, but her eyes narrow dangerously, and Mina gulps. “If you hurt her, I will personally cook you in my oven and serve you to the dogs.”

Mina blinks at the abrupt change of events before her mind catches up. “Huh? Oh, of course. I wouldn’t dream of—”

But Jihyo’s already turned her back on her, attention on Momo instead and Mina decidedly falls silent.

“You know who to come to, right?”

“Hyo, Mina isn’t—”

“—Right? ”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Good.”

Jihyo gives her one last look, then spins on her heel and walks away, steps resounding in the darkness, and Mina watches her go, still shaken from the abrupt confrontation. She snaps out of it when she feels a hand brush against her shoulder.

“Sorry about her, Jihyo’s my best friend, I’ve known her since elementary school. She’s just a little…protective,” Momo says, looking at Mina with imploring eyes.

“Yeah, no, it’s not a problem,” she says, resisting the urge to slump against a wall. “I just thought I was about to get fired, or have my head chopped off.”

“I wouldn’t put that past her, actually.”

There’s a brief, awkward silence that doesn’t last long, as Momo takes a quick step forward and gives her a peck on the lips, then drops back again and blushes fiercely. They don’t have much of a height difference, but Momo is just a bit taller than her, and she finds herself thinking about that as her cheeks burst into a red that she knows is a hell of a lot brighter than Momo’s little spots of pink.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning?” Momo says, her voice all kinds of shy.

“Uhm, yeah, definitely.”

Momo lights up like a Christmas tree at night and smiles so widely Mina’s afraid she might get a cramp in her cheeks. “Okay, bye! Good night!”

Mina watches Momo’s quickly retreating figure and wonders how someone’s back can look so attractive, reaching up and brushing along her lips with her fingertips. She’s going to make sure that isn’t their last kiss.

~

“Can we get shaved ice? Please, Mitang?”

Mina knows she’s lost when the nickname slips from Momo’s lips and she just sighs and waves a hand at her. Momo scurries towards the vendor like an excited puppy and Mina follows amiably behind her, a careful eye trained on her to make sure she doesn’t get hurt. It’s been two months since the fateful confession and Mina can confidently say that it’s been the best two months of her life.

Momo’s just as sweet and cute as she had imagined her to be. Mina, in return for the adorable ways of the woman, saves her from various possible accidents, mainly tripping and bumping into things and people. They’re a good pair if any, and Mina couldn’t have hoped for more.

“What do you want, Mitang?”

“Anything you get is fine,” Mina replies, nodding at the vendor who nods back with a smile.

“You know I’m indecisive,” Momo pouts.

Mina feels her resolve fade for the umpteenth time and she glances at the menu.

“Watermelon.”

“Oh, that sounds nice! Can we have watermelon please?”

The vendor smiles amiably and nods, getting to work as Momo hops up and down like an overeager child, her fingers tangled with hers in a loose grip the entire time. Mina wonders what she’s ever done to deserve someone like Momo.

~

Mina’s not usually an overbearing person.

She respects people and trusts them to take care of themselves, but when she comes out from the back of the cafe, dressed out of her uniform and into casual clothes, only to be greeted by the sight of a sleazy guy who doesn’t seem to know what space is getting all up against Momo who looks as uncomfortable as a person can get, all she sees is red.

Before she can so much as register it, she’s storming forward, reaching Momo in a matter of seconds, and pulling her into her arms by the waist, feeling the taller woman let out a sigh of obvious relief, sinking into her front and automatically placing her hands over Mina’s.

“Hands off, swine,” she snarls.

The guy doesn’t even have the decency to look guilty, taking a step forward instead so that Mina’s forced to push Momo behind her out of instinct. It probably looks a little comedic, considering the man is almost a full foot taller than her, but she’s not taking any chances.

“Who the hell are you? Stay out of this. This isn’t your business.”

Mina scoffs, stepping forward fearlessly and holding back laughter at the look on the guy’s face when he meets her glare.

“It is my business when you’re trying to cop a feel out of my girlfriend . And if you say one word about a threesome, I swear to god I’ll pluck off your good for nothing penis and give it to the dogs.”

That gets the guy to recoil, wavering in his stance and taking a step back, tail between his legs as he grumbles something under his breath and slinks out the doors. Mina doesn’t realize how tense she is until Momo’s standing in front of her, looking at her with those pretty, puppy-like eyes, looking worried as she takes her hand, running a thumb across her knuckles.

“Mitang? Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah I’m okay. Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Touch you anywhere? I swear, I’m going to—”

“I’m okay, really. Thank you.”

Mina blinks at her, tilting her head, which gets a giggle out of girl.

“PDA in my cafe?”

Mina jumps at Jihyo’s voice, spinning around to see, in surprise, a smile colored across her expression, aimed for her, not Momo. She’s not sure what to do under this kind of scrutiny from her boss. Momo only tangles their fingers together with a cheeky grin, Mina unable to keep her attention on Jihyo when someone like Momo is beside her.

“You get my vote, Myoui Mina. Congratulations. You have a good catch there, Momoring.”

“I know,” Momo says, leaning down to press a kiss on Mina’s cheek.

She feels a blush coming on and hastily draws her hair across her face with her free hand, earning Momo’s adoring coos which don’t help in the least. She’s not sure when she’d gotten so whipped.

~

Mina never thought the day would come when she’d be wearing a couple’s t-shirt straight out of the romcoms she’s ridiculed all her life. 

Despite all of that, it’s Momo’s birthday, and she’d be damned if she didn’t fulfill all of the girl’s wishes, no matter what the cost. It’s not so much the design of the shirts that has her gagging, but what’s written on them.

Momo’s wearing one that says: If lost, return to Mina.

And, of course, to her horror, she’s wearing one that says: I’m Mina.

She’s not sure when Momo had found the time to secretly invest in these t-shirts, but clearly, she hasn’t been keeping a careful eye on her girlfriend. When their friends catch sight of them, the teasing is saved for her and her only. 

They coo at Momo and reassure her that their couple shirts are downright adorable while they elbow Mina in the ribs with a snicker, usually accompanied by the word whipped.

Traitors, the lot of them.

It’s halfway into the night when Jihyo abruptly appears at her side, watching the others play a round of beer pong in the living room. She startles, because she really hasn’t gotten used to her boss’ silent charisma yet, but she manages to make it as unnoticeable as possible.

“Momo’s been hurt a lot in the past,” Jihyo says, her voice just audible enough to be heard by her and only her. “She’s pretty, and she has this charm to her, I’m sure you know that. So, naturally, people get attracted to her. A lot of those people were complete assholes. They used her and threw her away like she was some toy.” 

Jihyo’s voice has become dangerous, venom dripping from every syllable, and at hearing this, Mina can’t help but feel anger course through her veins. “That’s why I’m always hard on anyone who tries to get close to her, she’s like a baby bird, and she’s still so forgiving even after everything she’s been through. But I can tell you really care about her.” 

Mina looks at Jihyo, surprised at the sudden change of tone. “I’ve seen the way you look at her when she’s not looking, and the small things you do for her even when she doesn’t ask you to. I’m glad you’re in her life, Mina. She deserves someone like you.”

Mina’s at a loss for words, and she blinks fiercely at the unbidden burning in her eyes, just a stray piece of dust, she swears, and turns her head in hopes that Jihyo can’t see. The older woman pats her gently on the shoulder anyway, and it’s motherly in a sense, that Mina can understand why Momo seems to look up to Jihyo as a parental figure.

Jihyo gives her a soft smile then slips away through the crowd, small figure quickly disappearing behind far larger frames. Mina manages to catch sight of Momo standing near the kitchen looking like a lost puppy and wastes no time in going to her.

“Mitang! I was looking for you—”

Mina sweeps her into a hug, muffling the rest of her girlfriend’s sentence into her shoulder and burying her face into her neck. Momo giggles and wraps her arms around her waist, nuzzling against her playfully.

“Are you tired? Do you want to go home?”

“I love you.”

She feels Momo freeze in her arms and she prepares for the worst when she pulls away from her. It’s not the ideal confession, especially not in the middle of a giant house party, but it is Momo’s birthday after all, and even though she’s always been the type to overthink things to hell, she’s also known to be impulsive at the best of times.

All negative thoughts fly out the window when she’s met with Momo’s blinding smile and a kiss that almost topples her backward. She manages to catch both of them against the back of the counter, though not without the casualty of a plastic cup filled to the brim with some mixture of alcohol.

“I love you, too. So, so much,” Momo says once they break apart.

The moment is broken, however, by a clearly inebriated Sana with an apologetic looking Dahyun tugging on her arm. “Get a room, love birds!”

Mina peeks over Momo’s shoulder and flips her off, only lowering her arm once Momo gently pulls it back down and holds her hand instead. She doesn’t mind it.

She doesn’t think she ever will.


End file.
